pickled garlic

It’s garlic week.
I’m in recovery from the weekend, and I almost didn’t make a thing today. (Yes, the wedding went well. It rained on us while we ate dinner, but the wine was good enough that that was okay. Thanks for asking.) I almost gave you a little rundown of other garlic recipes that I’ve made- you know, roasted leg of lamb with garlic sauce or roasted garlic, onion and potato galette, or of course the king of kings garlic lemonade, or I guess when you come to think of it, just about everything I make around here that isn’t dessert.

But then I couldn’t resist shoving all the other things I had to do aside so that I could make something for you here. Because the truth is, I’ve really been wanting to tell you about this book.

Yes, I have pastoral British envy. I want elderflower rhubarb fool after the heritage roast that I cut myself and roasted on a spit in my very old hearth. I want stone walls and children with accents even though they wouldn’t really be accents because that’s how they talk. Sometimes, I just want to live in the River Cottage Books.

This is a new one- little and unassuming, written by Pam Corbin, containing nearly zero paranoia about canning safety. Put it in a jar. Put it on the shelf. As long as you are noble of heart, it will be good.

And so, because it is garlic week after all, and because I have this big bowl of uncleaned garlic that I hastily dug up and shoved in the closet, I thought I might spend a few moments in my new favorite cookbook and jar up a bit of garlic.

I don’t know how it will taste, but I’m thinking…good.
Let’s get to it then, shall we?

Pickled Garlic
adapted from Pam Corbin, The River Cottage Preserves Handbook

makes five 4-ounce jars

1 pound newer garlic (do it now, not in January)
about 15 peppercorns
5 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of saffron threads

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Sterilize your jars for about 10 minutes in the pot, then remove them. Submerge all of the garlic in the hot water, and keep it in for about 20 seconds. Remove, and the garlic will slide right out of its skins.
Put the vinegar, sugar and saffron into a pan. Bring the mixture to a boil.
In a separate little pot, bring a few cups of water to boil. Remove from heat and submerge the lids and bands of your jars. Leave them in the hot water.
Meanwhile, pack the garlic cloves into the sterilized jars, adding a bay leaf and peppercorns as you go. Pour the hot vinegar over the garlic, and top with the lid and band. If the vinegar is hot enough, the jar should seal (the center of the lid will suck down) within a couple of hours. If it doesn’t seal, you can also process in a hot water bath for ten minutes, or store in the refrigerator.
Use within a year.

Although that telling breeze is starting to make its way into the window at night, we’re still celebrating the summer around here! Oh, luscious garlic, what will all of these talented people do with you? I can hardly wait….

odd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Garlic Knots

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Spicy Pickled Garlic

Sara at Food2: Easiest Recipes Ever, Starring Garlic

Michelle on Cooking Channel: Roasted Garlic

Liz at Healthy Eats: 5 Reasons to Eat More Garlic

Kirsten at FN Dish: Garlic Chicken Greats

Margaret at A Way to Garden: Growing and Storing a Year of Garlic

Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Ajo Blanco Soup, and Confit Garlic

The Gilded Fork: Garlic Dossier and Recipes

Food Network UK: Glorious Garlic

Paige at The Sister Project: Spaghetti with Garlic and Zucchini

Cate at Sweetnicks: Double Dose of Garlic—Cuban Black Beans and The Best Pork Ever

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Italian Marinated Eggplant and Sorrel and Garlic Sauce